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West Fargo's summer theater performances July 28, 29

The West Fargo Park District is once again sponsoring their annual summer theater program that encourages children and youth in the community to cultivate their acting skills, under the direction of Renee O'Connor, assisted by Mike Anderson, who is also serving as technical advisor.

Two productions are being previewed this season for two days, July 28 and July 29, "Monster in the Closet," involving age 9 through 11 students, at 6 p.m., and "Who Dunit...and to Whom? with cast members ages 12 through 15, at 7:30 p.m. nightly.

Lance Belisle, Recreation Manager for the West Fargo Parks, said this has become a very popular program and one the youth of the community look forward to. "This program has been really good for us. Every summer it always fills up. The kids look forward to putting on these productions every year." He said O'Connor and Anderson are doing an excellent job of facilitating the shows. "They set up everything and pick the plays and coordinate the students and the location."

Anderson said that this has been the best year he's had so far. "Working with the kids has been very much a joy. It is such a good group, theater must be what they really want to do."

"Monster in the Closet" revolves around Emily, who has a big problem. Not only is she sent to bed just as she reached the highest level of her new video game, but there's a monster in her closet too, and it doesn't appear to be imaginary because her friend Stephanie has also seen it. What ensues is the teasing of Emily's brother and his friends, with the two girls relying on some of their own friends to help capture the monster. What they don't know is that Murray, the closet monster, doesn't mean any harm - he only wants to play Emily's new video game. He's too scared of kids to even think about trying to frighten them. Discover what happens when Emily has all her friends over for a sleepover so they can try and capture Murray? What follows is humor, mixed with ingenuity and magic to make for a wonderful family show for everyone.

Who Dunit...and to Whom? is a hilarious spoof of the classic "gumshoe story" with a variety of twists. Henpecked paint salesman Harold Finnegan is trying to pound out his umpteenth third-rate detective story on his typewriter, and as he writes, the audience will see the actions played out by actors on stage. And as he corrects his writing, the actors are forced to revise their actions. In the process, the audience is introduced to a group of zany characters including the beautiful Russian painter nicknamed Anytime, and the hero, Detective Grip. Strange characters keep cropping up, with the ability to stop the play and freeze the other characters. Who really is writing this play anyway? Is it Harold? Or has he lost control of his own thoughts? You may have to see this show twice.

Performances will be held at the West Fargo High School Theater at 801 9th St. E. Tickets will be available at the door, all are general admission. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children, ages 6-12, under 5 are free.

For more information, call the West Fargo Park District office at 433-5360.